


For a Case

by autumnlouise



Series: You Do Count: Sherlolly Appreciation Week 2018 [2]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Engagement, F/M, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Sherlolly Appreciation Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 03:26:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13895247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autumnlouise/pseuds/autumnlouise
Summary: Sherlock and Molly get engaged... for a case. (Sherlolly Appreciation Week Day 3: Engagement/Wedding)





	For a Case

**Author's Note:**

> Sherlolly Appreciation Week– Day 3 – Engagement/Wedding
> 
> I was planning on posting a different one shot, one centered on The Empty Hearse instead and with much more angst. But I had a pretty crazy day today, so I just threw this together since I didn't have the energy to finish my first idea. I hope it's coherent, and hopefully I can post the one-shot I was planning on writing later this week!

Molly did not quite know how she’d gotten here. One moment, she’d been picking at the remnants of her pasta– one of the finest dishes in London, she was told by the waiter– and brushing crumbs off of the skirt of her dress. The next, someone was placing a porcelain dessert plate in front of her, containing a slice of the most delicious looking chocolate cake she’d ever seen, a silver ring, and _marry me?_ written in chocolate-syrup cursive.

All Molly could think was that this had to be some kind of mistake. Because the ring before her and the man sitting across the table from her did not match; Sherlock Holmes, would never, not in a thousand years, propose to her with something as ordinary as this.

Besides, they’d only been an official couple for, what? Three months? Tonight’s dinner was supposed to be something small and ordinary, just another night out…

“Molly?”

Oh.

As soon as she looked up into his eyes– which were far more expressive and anxious than normal– she realized... this must certainly be for a case.

They held eye contact for a brief moment, both of them sitting in stunned silence with the waiter who had delivered the plate watching intently. Somehow, Sherlock managed to mouth to her, _just go along with it._ And with relief and sadness stinging in her eyes, Molly scrambled out of her chair, threw her arms around Sherlock, and cried, “Yes!” She pressed her lips to his in a passionate, dramatic kiss, and the entire restaurant seemed to burst into applause around them.

When they separated, Molly’s cheeks burning in embarrassment, the server insisted on taking their photo. Sherlock slid the ring onto Molly’s left hand, smiling as he did so. Endless congratulations poured upon them– from waiters, the chefs, even random guests who had been walking by at the time of the proposal.

Molly’s heart squeezed.

The atmosphere finally calmed down after about ten minutes of chaos. But despite the lack of paparazzi-like restaurant guests clamoring for information, they were still the center of everyone’s attention and the recipients of many stares. In typical-Sherlock fashion, her date asked for the check immediately. Molly protested and reached for the cake, eager to have a bite, but Sherlock put a hand out to stop her and informed the waiter who delivered their check that they would be taking the cake home in a box tonight, thank you very much.

“You could at least let me have a bit of fun,” Molly whispered once the server was out of earshot.

“I’ll explain outside. Grab your coat, let’s go.” he said urgently, holding the box of cake in one hand and pulling on his Belstaff with another. He didn’t even wait for her as he turned and practically bolted out of the restaurant.

Outside, the cold nipping at her cheeks, she had to jog to catch up with him. “ _What_ in the world just happened?” she demanded.

“I proposed to you.” Sherlock said, as though one proposed to their girlfriend of only three months– who’d happened to be in love with them for years beforehand– every day. “I needed a sample of the cake for the wedding case John found. They only give it out for engagements and I have reason to believe they’ve been lacing it with something.”

Shock made Molly stop in her tracks. “What?” She had dozens of questions regarding the whole situation– why on _earth_ would someone poison an engagement cake, of all things? But that wasn’t important at the moment. Shoving the whirlwind of emotions aside, she huffed, “Never mind that. I cannot believe you, Sherlock Holmes.”

He cocked a brow at her. “Are you upset?”

“Yes, of course I’m upset!” she cried, waving her left hand in front of his face. She fought the urge to scream. “You– you didn’t even tell me this was going to happen. Didn’t you at all think of the possibility that I might believe it was _real?_ You can’t just lead me on like this! I am not one of your silly experiments!”

“No, you’re not an experiment.” Sherlock blinked several times– once in confusion, once in rapid comprehension. “I… I am sorry, Molly. I assumed you would know that it was faux because I believed you to be uninterested in the prospect of marrying me.”

“Of course I’m interested in marriage, you bloody idiot,” she shouted, loud enough for all the world to hear. And then, softer, “Of course I am. Because I love you.” suddenly she was fighting back tears, because for a few precious moments, she’d had everything she’d ever wanted in life. But of course Sherlock Holmes had to go and ruin it.

Leave it to him.

“Forgive me. Forgive my ignorance.” he breathed, taking her left hand in his. “Would you have liked that?”

Molly sniffed, rubbing at her running eyes and nose with her free hand. “Liked what?”

“For it to have been true.”

Laughing once, Molly looked up at the sky and squeezed her eyes shut. This man. This horrible, wonderful, crazy, ridiculous man. The things he’d put her through over the years. But despite all of that, Molly would absolutely spend the rest of her life with him at the drop of a hat. “Yes.” she sighed, shaking her head at her folly, how foolishly in love she was with him. “I think I would have.”

And when she opened her eyes and looked down again, Sherlock Holmes had removed the ring from her finger and was once again on one knee–– except this time, it most certainly was not for a case.


End file.
